Online sales, early holiday deals seen as drag on stores this year

Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday in-store sales are predicted to have taken a hit this year because retailers offered discounts in early November and more customers decided to shop online.

Retailers opening on Thanksgiving have also taken the flair and dollars away from Black Friday, said Marshal Cohen, retail analyst with the Port Washington-based NPD Group.

"This is a different holiday weekend than from different years," Cohen said Sunday. "The consumers started shopping for deals as early as Nov. 1. Thursday is taking away from Friday, but Black Friday is not a bust."

ShopperTrak, a provider of shopper analytics based in Chicago, estimated Thanksgiving Day grossed a projected $1.8 billion in sales for brick-and-mortar retailers, while Black Friday garnered an estimated $10.4 billion in sales. Combined sales for both days are estimated to decrease at an undisclosed figure versus 2014.

About $4.47 billion was spent online on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday combined, 18 percent more than last year, setting a record, according to digital marketing research firm Adobe Digital Index. Of that figure, $2.74 billion was spent online on Black Friday, a 14.3 percent rise.

Thanksgiving weekend shopping lured more than 151 million U.S. shoppers in stores and online with Black Friday still on top as the biggest shopping day, according to a National Retail Federation survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

"Ultimately, while many question the ongoing relevance of Black Friday, it is still the biggest sales day of the year and signals the start of the holiday shopping season," Kevin Kearns, ShopperTrak chief revenue officer, said in a statement Saturday.

Nearly 102 million people said they shopped in stores over this weekend, and more than 103 million said they shopped online, spending an average of $299.60 per person, the NRF found.

Those younger than 35 were most likely to shop over the weekend.

This year, the NRF changed its survey method, making it unfeasible to compare figures with last year's results, the retail group said. It also did not include its projected spending numbers for the four-day Thanksgiving Day weekend.

"It is clear that the age-old holiday tradition of heading out to stores with family and friends is now equally matched in the new tradition of looking online for holiday savings opportunities," NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. Of those who shopped in stores over the weekend, 74.2 million shoppers said they shopped on Black Friday, 34.6 million said they shopped on Thanksgiving Day and 46.8 million shopped on Saturday, according to NRF results released Sunday.

Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday also saw thinner crowds in stores, according to preliminary numbers that indicate a decrease in shopper visits on both days compared with last year, ShopperTrak found.

"Fewer visits on both days reinforce the trend we've seen throughout the year, in which shoppers are researching products ahead of time, targeting their store visits, and arriving in-store with the intention of making a purchase," Kearns said.